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Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Cream of Mushroom Soup (Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free)

Somehow soup and stew weather has crept into July, I mean the temperature isn't even 60 degrees right now! I crave warming, soothing cooked foods in cold weather. This rich mushroom soup is perfect!

If it is hot where you reside then save this recipe for Autumn and serve it with a loaf of crusty gluten-free french bread and a salad of greens, crispy apples, and pumpkin seeds with a good balsamic dressing.

I will admit here that my girls wouldn't try this soup (was it the color?), but my boys, 18 month old twins tried some and then ate two bowls each!

Cream of Mushroom Soup

I had thought to add coconut milk to this soup for the "cream" but thought the deep, earthy flavors of the mushrooms wouldn't mingle very well with the tropical coconut flavors. This is why I chose to use cashews. If you have a nut allergy and can tolerate dairy products then you could add heavy cream. You would have to experiment with amounts though. I used water here but I imagine that a rich chicken or vegetable stock would bring this soup to the next level. My girls picked fresh violets from the garden and put them into each soup bowl - it sure makes for a beautiful presentation!

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

3 large carrots, chopped

1 pound cremini mushrooms, chopped

5 cups water or stock

few sprigs fresh thyme (pull the leaves from the stems)

few sprigs fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 teaspoons Herbamare, or to taste

1/2 cup raw cashews

2 tablespoons sweet rice flour (optional)

In a large pot (6-quart works) saute the onions in the olive oil until soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic, carrots, and mushrooms; saute for a few minutes more.

Add the water, herbs, pepper, and salt. Cover and simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat and ladle some of the soup into a blender. Add the cashews and sweet rice flour. Blend on high until smooth and creamy; transfer to a clean pot. Puree the remaining soup in batches (you can blend it for just a short time for more texture or longer for a smoother consistency).

Stir the soup together to mix the cashew cream in with the rest of the blended batches. Taste and add more salt if necessary or more water for a thinner consistency. Simmer over low heat for a few minutes to meld the flavors.

In a medium saucepan combine the all ingredients. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium and cook 3 minutes. For a creamier soup (more like Campbell's) pour into blender and process for 1 minute on high. Serves 4-6.

I can't wait to make this for my Mom when she comes to visit. She is going to LOVE it! Thank you! Also, what about that french bread recipe? Do you have it posted? I have tried a few (I even bought the special french bread loaf pan) and they have all been horrible.

This is cooking right now and it smells great - I don't have any Herbamare (not even sure what it is...) but it's so grounding. I tied the rosemary & thyme in a boquet garni because I'm too tired to chop them up.

I don't have any raw chestnuts but I have to run out later and will pick some up and finish the soup tonight. Really want to try the dairy-free version.

Just an update - I finally got the cashews, not chestnuts (I've got brain-fog today!) and this is the best cream of mushroom soup I've ever had. I'm going to eat it for dinner (right now!) and even thought about hiding it from my husband, but instead I'm going to pack it in his lunch tomorrow. He'll be so happy he won't know what to do.

I made the cream of mushroom soup today and it turned out amazing! I made a couple of changes that I thought you might like. I didn't have cashews for the "cream". Instead, after I sauteed the mushroom mixture I added about 3 TB of garbanzo bean flour and made a roux. Then I added the broth and let it simmer. This made the soup thick and gave a nice creaminess. I finished it with a some Bragg's Liquid Amino's to taste. Wow! It was good! Thanks!

Finally made this amazing recipe to reintroduce mushrooms after years avoiding them. SO YUMMY. The cashews make it perfectly creamy, I love it! I hope I get to make it many many more times! Thank you Ali.

Ali, you should try it with coconut milk. There's a Thai restaurant down the street from me that makes a coconut soup with mushrooms in it, and it is awesome. I, too, am looking for replacements for canned soups to use to make casseroles with (not supposed to have gluten or dairy here).

You are my go to site when I need something tasty. Thank you so much for sharing your works of art!I made this soup today for use in a green bean casserole. My non allergic son tasted it and said, "now this tastes like Thanksgiving!" Hooray!I didn't have sweet rice flour or crimini mushrooms, so I subbed tapioca starch and portabella. I also made a roux to thicken it and simmered it to reduce it more so it would cling to the green beans. Topped it off with caramelized onions. Yummy. Thanks again!

I made this with some chicken broth that I simmered for 6 hours yesterday. The soup was so thick, creamy and satisfying! I will definitely add this to my repertoire of week night meals. Thanx for another great recipe!Jeni

Oh, I LOVE this recipe. I made it for our Thursday soup night and it was amazing. I am on a strict diet though, and so I couldn't use the olive oil to cook with. I subbed pasture-raised butter. And, I just left out the sweet rice flour as I can't have grains. This was the best mushroom soup I've ever had. And my girls, 1.5yr and 2.5yr ate it up! Thank you so much!!!

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This blog was created by Ali and Tom of Whole Life Nutrition. We offer healthy whole foods recipes that happen to be gluten-free. Having 5 children, our focus tends to revolve around raising healthy kids. We also specialize in elimination diets, gluten sensitivity, and celiac disease.